The drive to the jail is thirty-five minutes with no traffic on a Thursday morning. I've been doing some serious thinking about what I'm going to do with the money in the tin buried in the orchard and I think that I have finally come to a conclusion. I need to talk to Robby about it in person which is why I've decided to drive all the way out here to visit him.

I have to sign in at the front desk and then an officer takes me through a few doors that unlock only long enough for us to walk through. I have to get searched with a metal detector and sniffed out by a drug sniffing dog before I have to put my things in a locker. I'm then taken to the room that Robby is in. There's a metal table with two metal chairs, one being occupied by Robby.

I thank the officer before going in and I sit down across from my brother who is now wearing what looks like gray scrubs from Orange is the New Black.

"How have you been, Robby?" I ask him. I brought my dad's car today so I didn't have to ask Sage to drive me all the way out here. She would have if I asked her to but she's spending the day with Ty. I also don't want anybody to see me go into a panic attack again so if that does happen, I just don't want her around to see it.

"It's not so bad in here," He says with a shrug. "What about you, Minnie? Are you surviving without me?"

"Barely," I mutter with a long sigh. "Dad isn't talking to me."

"What'd you do to him?"

"I suggested that we sell the orchard to get you a lawyer," I admit to him. His eyes immediately go wide because he knows how ridiculous that was of me to ask of our father. "But anyway, I have a few things that I came here to ask you about. The first one being do you know a girl named Gabriella Briggs?"

I know that it's ridiculous to ask him this question but they're the same age so if she is from our town, he will definitely know who she is. Not that I care.

Okay, well obviously, I do care. If I didn't, I wouldn't have just asked him about her. I don't want to care though, because I know how ridiculous I'm being.

I watch as Robby scrunches his face up in thought, trying to see if that name rings any bells but then he starts to shake his head. "Gabriella Briggs... no, I don't think... oh wait. I know a Franky Briggs though."

"Who's Franky Briggs?" I ask him.

"He dated Marcy Hubbard a while back. He's not from here though, he lives in Westgate, the guy is loaded. Well, his family is," Robby explains to me. I'm now assuming that Franky is related to Gabriella because the rich family fits her Kate Spade accessories and the new Cadillac. Westgate is also a really expensive, fancy neighborhood that's maybe a fifteen-minute drive from here. "I only met the guy once, don't really know him that well. Why are you asking?"

"No reason," I say quickly. "I was just curious, I guess."

That should be the end of that conversation... right? Well, you would think. I guess that I just can't leave it alone though, because I then ask him a follow up question that really doesn't need to be asked. "What about a guy named Dex? He was a freshman in high school when you were a senior."

"Dex..." Robby starts thinking again. "Is he that guy with the blond hair? He has a tattoo on his neck, right?"

"Yeah, that's him," I'm glad that he remembers him. Not that I need to know more about Dex but I definitely do. I have to know everything that there is to know about him which is why it makes me so happy that my brother has some of that information.

"Well, when I knew him, he wasn't Dex. His name is Oliver," He informs me. "I think Dex comes from his middle name or something. I don't know, but that was a long time ago. We had chemistry together, he was a freak genius. A nice kid, I guess. Why are you asking about these people?"

"I met him a little while ago," I admit to my brother, trying to figure out how to answer him without giving too much away. "And I was just curious about him, I guess."

"You've got a crush?" He raises his bushy eyebrows at me.

"No," I insist. "I don't have a crush. I'm just making sure that he's not dangerous. He's friends with Sage's boyfriend."

"Oh, well then you shouldn't worry. You know that Sage's boyfriends don't last that long," Robby reminds me as he leans back in his uncomfortable chair. Based on movies and such, I was expecting him to be handcuffed to the table or something but he's not cuffed at all. He can get up and walk around the room if he wants to. But I guess the door that I came through to get in here is probably locked with guards outside.

"This one is lasting longer than usual," I explain to him. "I don't know why, he's not that great but she seems to really like him."

"It's Sage. She'll move on. So if you think that this guy could be dangerous, just ignore him until she ends things with this guy that she's with," Robby suggests.

"How do you know that she won't really fall in love with Tyson?" I ask him curiously.

"Sage doesn't fall in love," Robby informs me. "She gets infatuated and that doesn't last long. Sure, I guess this one could be different but either way, you don't have to worry about her being around Dex. He's not dangerous."

"Okay," I don't know what else to say to that.

"They assigned me a public defender," He changes the subject. "The guy could still be in diapers, I feel like I have to be his first case or something. I'm not going to win this with that guy. I don't think he could even help me get out of a parking ticket, he's a total idiot."

"Did he say that he could get you a good deal?" I ask him hopefully.

"No but he does think that I should plead guilty," He mumbles irritably.

"You should plead guilty," I remind him.

He rolls his eyes at that and then he says, "Why do you want me to go to prison, Yaz?"

"You know I don't want that, Robby, but you have to go to prison. You have to," I try to slap him in the face with reality in hopes of getting through to him. "You stabbed somebody. An innocent old man, you stabbed him right in the gut. So you do not get to decide that you don't want to go to prison. Not anymore. You get to decide between five years or twenty years."

"Out of everybody, I thought that you'd be on my side about this," He mumbles, trying to throw me on a guilt trip but it's not working. I won't feel guilty for being reasonable about this.

"Well, I'm not. I mean, I am on your side in the sense that I want what's best for you. But I'm not on your side in the sense of agreeing with your stupid idea," I insist, getting irritated at him. I understand that the thought of going to prison is terrifying but he has to realize that although it's scary, he did the crime and he's going to go to prison. If he goes to trial, he will absolutely lose.

"I can't go to prison, Minnie. For years."

"You did this," I tell him again. "I don't care if they talked you into it and I don't care if you didn't want to do it because the fact is that you did this. You held the knife in your clammy hand and you shoved it into that man's gut. You. I agree that you need a good lawyer but the only thing that he's going to do is to get you a good deal when you plead guilty. Because you are guilty."

"Let's just... okay, let's just use the money stash to get a good lawyer and we'll see what they say," Robby suggests in a calming voice to try and get me to calm down. I'm not so calm though.

"That's actually what I came here to talk to you about, everything else was just a build up to this," I take a deep breath and then I try to speak as calmly as he had so that when I tell him what I've decided, he won't completely explode.

"Why are you frowning like that?" He looks worried.

"I'm going to give the money to Mr. Sanchez. That's the guy that you stabbed, by the way," I rip it off like a Band-Aid and I prepare for blastoff. "I'll try to find the money somewhere else but that money, you don't deserve it."

"You... did you already give it back?" He closes his eyes and then puts his face in his hands to try and process what I've said.

"No but I'm going this weekend," I answer him. "He's a really nice man and he has a wife. Even if the insurance company gave him what he lost, you shouldn't get that money. I know that you trusted me with it and I'm sorry but I can't give it back to you. It isn't yours."

"Yasmin," He sighs out my name. "You cannot be serious. I need that money."

"No."

"Yaz," He says my name again but with more force and his voice is getting louder. "If I don't get that money, I'm going to prison."

"You are going to prison either way," I tell him. "Wake the fuck up, Robby. You are doomed. And this money is not going to help you. Like I said, I'm going to try my best to try and get you some legal, fair money. I have some saved up from work so I'll try to figure something out. So that a good lawyer can get you a good deal out of this when you plead guilty."

"I'm not pleading guilty."

"Then I'll see you in twenty years," I snap at him irritably.

"I gave you that money because I knew that you could keep it safe. And now you're going to turn around and get rid of it? You're going to fuck me over when I need you the most. Are you kidding me?" HIs voice is getting louder but I promised myself that I would stay strong. I knew that he would get angry but I won't give him that dirty money.

"No," I say again. "I love you so much, Robby. But I will not be like you. I'm a good person and I will not let you turn me into a pawn in your horrible scheme. That money is not yours and I'm giving it back. I will try to find you some money in another way. I'll go through my savings, I will try to get Dad to sell the orchard. I would sell our car or even the fucking house if I could. I would do anything for you to not be in this situation right now except for this."

"You're a good person..." He trails off. "So are you saying that I'm not a good person?"

"You stabbed somebody, Robby," I say for what is probably the tenth time today. "It wasn't self-defense, you were robbing him and you brought a knife with you. What did you go in planning? That you were just going to tickle him with it? I'm not going to stop fighting for you but you need to wake up and take some blame for this. That man is in the hospital because of you and you are going to jail for it. So own up and deal with it before you are spending twenty years behind bars."

"Yasmin, don't fuck this up for me," Robby pleads with me but I'm already standing up from the chair to knock on the door so that the officer on the other side knows that I'm done and will let me out.

"Keep me updated, alright?" I ask him even though he's not even looking at me right now because he's so angry. "I love you, Robby."

He doesn't say anything in response so I just leave after that. I get my things back and sign out in the lobby of the jail before I get back to the old car that I drove here so that I can take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. I hate that I'm letting him down but I know that I'm doing the right thing. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't give the money back to the victim.

I'm doing the right thing.

Maybe, someday, Robby will see it that way too but I'm not holding my breath about that.

I don't drive way as soon as I get into the car because I need to catch my breath. Before I get the key in the ignition, my phone starts ringing in my bag so I fish it out and see that it's an unknown number but I answer it anyway.

"Hello?" I try to sound like nothing is wrong but I can tell that my voice sounds dull and tired.

"Hey, Yaz," A girl's voice greets me on the other end. "This is Amber. I hope you don't mind that Sage gave me your number. Is this a good time?"

"Um, yeah, sure. What's up?" I rest my forehead against the wheel of the car and listen to see what she wants.

"So I volunteer at the preschool over on Dunlap Road and we're looking for somebody to paint a mural in the cafeteria. Sage mentioned that you are an artist so I was wondering if you'd be interested? I can't pay you but we have all of the supplies so you won't have to bring your own paint or anything."

"What's the mural of?"

"Well, they've put me in charge of this project and I've got some ideas but if you have something you think would work, I would love to hear what you come up with. Maybe we can collab or just see what happens," She says. "And I know that you're busy with work but I'm totally flexible with my schedule. What do you say?"

"Alright," I agree to it without really even thinking about it because I'm so preoccupied with worrying about my brother. "I don't work on weekends."

"Okay, perfect! So could you meet up on Saturday? Can I take you to lunch or something to say thank you?" She offers me, sounding very excited about whatever it is that I just agreed to.

"Sure, I'm free on Saturday," I confirm. "You can text me with the details. I'm sorry, Amber, I have to go deal with some stuff. But yeah, I'll see you Saturday."

"Yeah, great. Yeah, I'll see you on Saturday," She agrees and then I hang up. I don't want to seem rude to Amber but I am about to cry and I don't want her to be on the phone to hear that.

Nobody should ever have to hear that.